What are your names?
Jim Mcsorley plays drums
Andy Blackburn plays guitar and sings
What is the band’s name?
This Summit Fever
How did you come up with the bands name?
I (Andy) has fascination with mountains, especially the Himalaya and there is a phenomenon known as Summit Fever. It’s where a climber will aim to get to the summit no matter the consequence. The decision making of a climber at 8000 metres is impaired due to the lack of oxygen in the brain. Seemed like a cool name for the band.
What is your genre of music?
heavy fuzz rock
Give us a little bio about you.
Jim and I met at music college in Shropshire more than 20 years ago. We both went in different directions after college. I lived in Manchester and Jim went to Brighton. We both ended up back in Shropshire and decided to start making music between the Covid lockdowns. We have continued to make music and have released 2 EPs now.
What made you go into music?
I got into playing music from about age 13. I wanted to play guitar like my heroes James Hetfield, Tony Iommi, Slash and Jimi Hendrix.
Who are your influences?
We are influenced by other fuzz rock bands like Kyuss, Fu Manchu and the like but We’re taking a lot of other influences and trying to do something else. We’ve mixed in influences from bands like Soundgarden and Nirvana, and we’ve also pulled inspiration from genres like dreamcore.
Are you a signed?
No
You released your new EP ‘Distraction Rituals’, tell us more about the EP and the meaning behind the title
Distraction Rituals is a loose concept EP about society’s tendency to ignore problems and focus on immediate pleasures instead. The EP opener “Messiah,” for example, is about humanity being distracted by things that don’t truly matter while politicians push unsavory legislation. “The Widow,” meanwhile, explores the occasional value in distraction—especially following the death of a loved one.
Describe each track in two words.
Messiah – upbeat + Dynamic
Sometimes a tidal wave – heavy + psychedelic
It contorts – fast + slow
The widow – Dark + heavy
What was the writing and recording process like?
The writing was done in short bursts. Often one idea can inspire 2 or 3 others so we had multiple riffs cooking for a while before they became songs. Messiah and the widow were the ones that took the most time. The EP was completely self recorded and mixed. It was mastered by Dean Honer.
Who did you work with on the EP?
We recorded, produced and mixed by ourselves which does take longer but we enjoy the process.
Will we see a music video for any of the tracks from the EP and if so, can you tell us more about the creative process for it?
yes we made a music video for the lead track – Messiah. It was directed, filmed and edited by Christian Soden, who also did all the art work for us. It is a performance video and we used harsh strip lighting to kind of silhouette us. Watch it here
Do you have any live shows coming up?
18 June – Manchester Grand central
14 July – Leicester -Duffy’s Bar
22 July Birmingham- Flapper
28 July – Manchester Star and garter
4th August – Nottingham Via Fossa
Let us know where we can get tickets if so.
Tickets will can be found on our linktree
What else can we expect in early 2023?
For now more gigs. We will hopefully start working on new music soon too
Where do you see yourself now in 5 Years?
Hopefully still making music
What quote or saying do you always stick by?
The power of the riff compels me
When you are at a gig, what are 5 things you cannot forget?
My guitar , my pedals, my lyrics, my ear plugs and my fellow band mate Jim
Do you have social media accounts so your fans can follow you?
Bandcamp
Facebook
Instagram
